Well this XPS 2 is the 2nd notebook I ever owned. I got this as my personal entertainment system, and I have yet to be really disappointed in the 2 months I have had it. First off the screen is gorgeous, the Trulife coating makes my old Toshiba look so dim and dirty. I will never order a screen again with a non glossy coating. Regarding the "sparkles", it is a fine coating of dots, you can only see them if you are staring at a solid white background for a few minutes or so. I noticed it when I first got my machine, but you soon get used to it.
Graphically this thing is fast! I run CS:Source, Halo and Guild Wars on max settings and everything is smooth. I also have HL2, it runs excellent at UXGA resolution. For normal web browsing, I run the display at 1440*900, and I use the Opera web browser and use the built in zoom function at 150%.
Audio quality is also excellent, the front mount speakers are pretty loud, and the subwoofer works well, it shakes my flimsy desk. only problem I have is that the multimedia buttons are poorly placed, it is too easy to brush your hands on the buttons, and the volume buttons have no "play" in the settings, if they are on volume 0 and you press volume up, the volume level just jumps up to 4 or 5, there is nothing in between. A manual wheel would of been better.
Case is pretty solid, haven't heard any creaks, screen hinges are stiff as well. Keyboard is crap, sometimes it feels like your fingers get caught under the edges, they could of made the fit tighter. I already scraped 2 keys off, one I got back in but the other won't fit right so I will have to get a new kb from Dell when they are in stock.
I got the 5400rpm 60gbHD. It is pretty fast, now I wished that I had gotten the 100GB for $100 more. Dell installs a lot of crap, but fortunately they include a real XP disc so you can reinstall everything, except a few programs like Cyberlink PowerDVD.
I also have the IntelPRO wireless 2200BG, the bluetooth was extra, but you can buy the modules on Ebay for 1/4th the price. They are simple to install, takes about 2 minutes. or if you can find a good deal on a USB bluetooth adaptor go for it. I am sad to see that Dell does not include port covers, I will have to either put my computer in a case or blast it weekly with compressed air.
DON'T get the XPS backpack, it is HUGE, almost like a camping backpack. If you want a small, nice case get the Booq Powersleeve XXL, although I don't know if it has room for the AC adaptor. Speaking of the AC adaptor, Dell could of made this thing smaller, it is really big, but it is lighter than most I have seen.
Intel Pro Wireless works like a dream, I am picking up my routers signal and also my neighbors, it has a cool autoconfig utillity that lets you make a profile for a certain network, so when you get the signal, it will remember the settings and automatically connect.
Batterylife is good for a machine of this power, with screen at max brightness and wireless on, you can get about 1 and 1/2 hours, turn wireless off and screen at lowest settings you can squeeze out 2 hours. I am rarely away from an outlet so this didn't matter to me much. This system WILL NOT work with an airplane power adaptor, not enough voltage, so leave this in the overhead. I bought a Thinkpad T43 for travelling, and use my XPS for my "desktop".
All in all this is the best power laptop for games, if you like to record tv or anything like that without purchasing extras the Qosimo from Toshiba is also a good deal, but it doesn't have a geforce 6800 Ultra, just a 6600.
Make sure you order one with a coupon from Notebookforums.com, I saved $1500. And even though those new Dell M170s are coming out, I think the PXS 2 is a better buy, the M170's are only about 15-20% faster in 3DMark05 (6000+ vs 5000+) and cost twice as much.
Also I suggest you buy your ram elsewhere, Dell will rape you with the prices of ram, and to achieve the speeds others are reaching in games, 2gb of RAM is a must.
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by Iridium  edited by fire100
last modified: 2005-10-23 00:31:37 |
